The Phantom of the Opera
by thevampirealucard
Summary: This is a script for a stage adaptation that never took shape, written entirely by me. Don Juan Triumphant (which is the Englund version, btw), the Graveyard, the Persian, the black mask, it's all there. Submitted Act-by-Act. Enjoy! R
1. Act I

_Act I_

_Scene 1_

(Enter Joseph Buquet, James, La Sorelli and Meg)

Meg: I saw him! I saw him!

Sorelli: Who?

Meg: I think it's the Ghost!

Buquet: What did he look like?

Meg: Well dressed, tanned, wearing a fez and a scowl!

Buquet: You didn't see the Ghost, then.

Sorelli: And I suppose YOU have!

Buquet: Indeed I have.

Sorelli: Oh, do tell!

Meg: Please, monsieur, do.

Buquet: Well, I was in the third cellar one night right after a performance when I saw a shadowy silhouette of a man. I approached to inquire as to what he was doing below. When he approached the light, I was terrified. His eyes were sunken, skin yellow, and no lips! And the nose, there was none! He gazed and saw me; his eyes themselves were like a cat's golden eyes! Altogether his visage was one of one long dead, a moving, living skull.

Sorelli: You must have been drinking. No man may look that way.

Buquet: No, Madame, I was lucid as a priest. What I saw was not a flight of fancy.

Meg: Continue, please. What was he wearing? How did he appear?

Buquet: He was tall; over two meters tall, and grotesquely thin. His jacket hung off him as it would a skeleton. He was clad head to toe in black, with a hat upon his head of long, jaggedly cut, greasy black hair that stretched almost to his shoulder, and he wore a cloak, large and dark as night.

(Enter the Persian)

Persian: Monsieur Buquet, I would advise you not to speak of this "ghost", as it were. I am sure he… it… would not like men to speak of him.

Meg: (screams)

(Persian exits)

Sorelli: Was he the man you saw, Meg?

Meg: Yes, yes, a thousand times, yes!

Sorelli: By God, Buquet, who is that man?

Buquet: That, Madame Sorelli, is the Persian. All he does is lurk about, and when he does speak, it is a warning far beyond cryptic.

Meg: Oh, but Monsieur Buquet, you don't think….

Buquet: Oh, I don't, Mademoiselle Giry. But I do think this mysterious "Persian" has had some dealings with, and consequently has business with our resident Phantom.

(Clock chimes nine)

Sorelli: Oh, my dear Meg, I do believe it is time for you to return to the dormitories.

Meg: But Madame Sorelli, how am I to sleep with all this talk of phantoms years dead?

Sorelli: Come now, I will walk you there, and then, if necessary, I'll provide laudanum.

(Exit La Sorelli and Meg)

(Joseph Buquet walks about, whistling)

(Noose appears around his neck, choking him and pulling him offstage)

(Phantom laughs maniacally)

_Scene 2_

(Enter Richard and Moncharmin)

Richard: What are we to do with this!

Moncharmin: We take over management from Debienne and Poligny, and now the chief sceneshifter is dead!

Richard: What have the police found?

Moncharmin: They say it was suicide.

Richard: But?

Moncharmin: (sigh) But the ballerinas, principally a girl named Meg Giry, believe that Buquet's death was the result of his speaking of a certain presence.

Richard: Aye, a certain Phantom of the Opera?

Moncharmin: The same. How… what is this?

(Picks up note)

Moncharmin: (reads) "A good day to you, my new managers. Allow me to extend the olive branch of cooperation and welcome to my opera house. I am certain you would like this management to progress without a hitch. As would I. However, this goodwill comes with certain conditions, attached strings, if you will. In the extremely unlikely case that MM. Debienne and Poligny neglected to inform you, these conditions are very definite and three in number. The first is the keeping of Box Five for my private use…"

Richard: That's on the grand tier! Do you have any idea how much money we could make by simply disregarding this "phantom's" orders?

Moncharmin: For heaven's sake, man, hush! I am very much attached to my life! "The second will not be difficult for two men of your business stature. For services rendered, I require a salary surmounting to 20,000 francs. Monthly."

Richard: TWENTY THOUSAND FRANCS! I should like to have a word with this extortionist, this… this… PHANTOM! What in God's name does he expect us, two credible businessmen, to do when requisitioned for an exorbitant amount for unspecified "services rendered"?!

Moncharmin: Oh, do shut up, man! He may be listening!

Richard: And that's another point! How in Hell was he able to get into a locked…

(Moncharmin slaps Richard)

Moncharmin: "The amiable previous managers were contented with this arrangement, and I daresay I very rarely called upon this next power herein and soon-to-be-mentioned. The third condition will be my irrevocable power to approve or veto the casting. This stems from the first condition, as I would rather not be forced to listen to the screeching of an amateur whose sole reason for attaining the office of prima donna would be the… shall we say… risqué entertainment of one or both of the business-minded managers."

Richard: The improprie….

(Moncharmin draws hand back)

Richard: Okay, okay.

Moncharmin: "Needless to say, I expect my instructions to be followed TO THE LETTER. If I am denied any of these small compensations for the charm and publicity I bring to this opera house, I promise you I will allow the both of you to live only as long as it takes you to regret it. Your humble servant, O.G." HOW OUTRAGEOUS!

(Richard slaps Moncharmin)

Moncharmin: OW!

Richard: (shrugs) You did the same to me.

Moncharmin: Never mind that! This presents a problem! How are we to deal with such madness?

Richard: I believe we should have a word with this mysterious "Opera Ghost."

Moncharmin: How?

Richard: Well, he said he enjoyed the opera from Box Five, correct?

Moncharmin: Yes, that is true…

Richard: Then let's see if he truly is there, tonight.

Moncharmin: Clever, my friend, very clever.

Richard: Who is the box-keeper of Box Five?

Moncharmin: A… Madame Giry, it seems.

Richard: Let's bring her in. If this "phantom" is the genuine article, surely the keeper of his private box ought to know.

Moncharmin: You know, that actually might not be an awful idea. There's hope for you after all, Richard.

(Richard approaches door)

Richard: Boy! Go fetch me Madame Gi… oh, Madame Giry. Just how long have you been there?

(Madame Giry enters)

Madame Giry: A time, my dear managers, a time.

Moncharmin: Then you must know the matter of which we were speaking, eh?

Madame Giry: _Oui, _monsieur.

Richard: Then you can take us to him!

Madame Giry: No, monsieur, I do not think you want to do that.

Richard: Why not?

Moncharmin: Peace, Richard. Madame, please tell us all that you know about this "Opera Ghost."

Madame Giry: There is not much to tell, monsieur. He comes during performances, usually at the beginning of Act II.

Richard: Then we will accost him on his way there!

Madame Giry: Oh, no, monsieur, that will be quite impossible.

Moncharmin: Please, do tell us why.

Madame Giry: It is because he does not enter. At the beginning of the Second Act, there is a knocking on the door of Box Five. It used to be that a voice came from all around me requesting a programme and a footstool.

Moncharmin: Like the kind a lady would use?

Madame Giry: _Oui, _monsieur.

Richard: Then has he a lady friend?

Madame Giry: I do not know, monsieur. I do not think so. But at the end of the performance, he vanishes. When the performance is satisfactory, he leaves me a gift.

Moncharmin: A gift? Of what variety?

Madame Giry: Sometimes it is a few francs. Other times, a flower. One time there was even a box of sweets.

Richard: Sweets?

Madame Giry: _Oui, _sweets.

Moncharmin: Madame, we would like to meet with him. Tonight.

Madame Giry: Sit close by during tonight's performance. When he appears in Box Five, I will come to get you so that you can see him yourself.

Moncharmin: Thank you, Madame. Your aid is much appreciated.

(Exeunt)

_Scene 3_

(Enter Moncharmin and Richard)

Richard: I don't think I've ever been more frightened in my life!

Moncharmin: Agreed. One second there, the next, gone. Did you get a good look at him?

Richard: No, I only caught a glimpse of his silhouette. It was like looking at a shadow, completely insubstantial in its form. I turned back and it was gone!

Moncharmin: Then there's no doubt about it, then, my friend. It seems we have a ghost with expensive tastes to deal with.

Richard: I cannot think how things could get wo…

(Enter stagehand, out of breath)

Stagehand: Is it true?

Richard: Is what true?

(Moncharmin places hand on Richard's chest)

Moncharmin: Peace, friend. What rumor have you come to confirm or deny?

Stagehand: Señora Carlotta is refusing to sing tonight for the season opening!

Richard: It just got worse.

Moncharmin: Where did you hear this?

Stagehand: Carlotta's assistant, my sister Cybele, gave me this to give to you, monsieur.

Moncharmin: Thank you, friend. We will deal with Carlotta. You concern yourself with the changing of tonight's scenes, eh?

Stagehand: Yes, monsieur. Thank you.

(Exit stagehand)

(Moncharmin opens the letter)

Moncharmin: "My dear managers, your incompetence and hatred of art astound me! That you would allow this prankster to do something so impudent, with autonomy, is altogether disgraceful! Until I have some assurance that these practical jokes and affronts to my dignity will stop, I will not return to the opera house. Yours truly, La Carlotta."

Richard: *groan*

Moncharmin: What are we to do?

Richard: What of this new letter?

Moncharmin: Heavy stationary, edged in black, sealed with a red wax skull… it's him!

Richard: Quickly, read it aloud!

Moncharmin: "My dear managers, due to Sra. Carlotta's… unexpected absence, and your no doubt frantic efforts to find a solution, I have decided to extend the olive branch of goodwill and invoke my third conditional. As a replacement for the odious La Carlotta, who sings like the unsavory toad she is, I would suggest Mademoiselle Christine Dáae. Believe me, gentlemen, you will not be disappointed. Your humble servant, O.G."

Richard: And are we to bow to his demands?

Moncharmin: In this instance, I would suggest, had you another viable solution to our problem, that you tender it immediately. I do not see an option that allows us both to not have to refund all of the seats for opening night and to not tender our independence, at least in this arena, at least at this time.

Richard: Then Dáae shall sing. How bad could it possibly be?

_Scene 4_

(Enter Comte Philippe de Changy and La Sorelli from opposite stage)

Philippe: Sorelli?

Sorelli: Philippe!

Philippe: How long has it been?

Sorelli: Not so long that I do not still have… fond memories of the last time we… met. Are you here to… renew that acquaintance?

Philippe: Unfortunately, no. I'm here with my recently returned fop of a brother (whisper) to introduce him to manhood.

Sorelli: Oh, indeed.

(Enter Raoul)

Raoul: Oh, get a room, you two.

Sorelli: Oh, we did. Quite a _few_ times when you were gone.

Raoul: I _don't_ appreciate the innuendo.

Philippe: Just you wait until your blood begins to boil! (Aside) at either of them, as the case may well be (back). Then you'll understand why the prime of youth is a time of naught but passion and innuendo for men of our breeding.

Raoul: Is the man a dog, then? To be selectively bred like some common animal?

Philippe: These philosophical wanderings of the mind are no proper domain for a young man of the Changy lineage such as you! Never mind that the Commune nearly wiped us out.

Raoul: Your candor does nothing to impress me.

Sorelli: In with the lot of you! The show's to start in a little while!

Philippe: Am I to be tantalized by your dancing form for the night over?

Sorelli: All to make the consummation all the more satisfying.

Raoul: Let's go then, you two. Don't want to be late.

(Exit Raoul)

Philippe: I really must…

Sorelli: And I should, too. I am the lead dancer, you know.

Philippe: Then shall I see you backstage while my brother discovers and entertains his lusts?

Sorelli: You can count on it!

(Exeunt)

_Scene 5_

(Enter Raoul and Philippe into the box)

Philippe: Brother, welcome to the first night of the rest of your life.

Raoul: What' s to be so special about the rest of my life?

Philippe: Women, of course! Mistresses by the dozen!

Raoul: Like you and La Sorelli?

Philippe: And that means?

Raoul: I'm not you, brother, to act on lust as my only feeling for a woman.

Philippe: Nonsense! You simply haven't seen the right woman to stoke your fire!

Raoul: I do not believe in objectivizing women!

Philippe:… One day, brother, you will have to grow up and face reality: chivalry is returned with scorn and love is a lie.

Raoul: Hush. The show is just about to begin.

(Christine enters, singing the Jewel Song from Faust)

Raoul: No…

Philippe: What's wrong?

Raoul: It cannot be…

Philippe: Ah, young Christine Dáae. Sorelli speaks highly of her… and her beauty surpasses that of Sorelli. Do not worry, brother. I am not in the habit of plucking young flowers.

Raoul: It's Christine! After all these years!

(Christine finishes and faints)

(Applause)

(Light behind Phantom on)

(Turn and collective gasp)

Raoul: Who is that?

(Exit Phantom)

Philippe: That, according to Sorelli, is the Phantom of the Opera. Looks like you have a ghost as a competitor for Mademoiselle Dáae's heart. (laughs) Of all the bad luck…

Raoul: I must see her!

Philippe: Did you hear me? You would be contending with the ethereal!

Raoul: Little Lotte… Christine…

(Raoul bolts)

Philippe: Raoul! Raoul!

(Philippe runs after him)

(Persian steps out of the shadows, nods, and exits)

_Scene 6_

(Enter Christine)

Phantom: You were in fine voice today, Christine. Best yet, in fact. The angels indeed wept tonight. But you can do better; a certain depth of emotion was… lacking.

Christine: Master, is that you?

Phantom: Were you expecting someone other than your teacher, your Angel of Music?

Christine: Master, I have given you my soul tonight, and now I feel dead!

Phantom: Your soul is a great thing, my child. Certainly no emperor has ever received so great a gift. You gave your feeling to the crowd, but in order to excel, Christine, you must sing for me and me alone. Do you hear me? Me and no other!

Christine: … yes, Master. You gave me my voice, unlocked that soul which lay in wait within me… It is, and always will be, yours.

Phantom: Very good, child. And fear not, for the time is fast approaching when I will step into the light and give unto you the rest of Heaven's music.

Christine: Thank you, Master.

(Exit Christine)

(Enter Raoul)

Raoul: Whose voice is that? Who enters the chamber of my lady? Reveal yourself so I may run you through! Playing Christine like a fool… I know that is the voice of a man! Reveal yourself!

(Phantom laughing)

Raoul: A rose… a rose on the table… what does this mean? Has she already found… another?

(Enter Christine)

Christine: Oh, where did I put that, I left it… (gasp) Monsieur! It is exceedingly improper to enter the room of a lady! Out, monsieur, before I call the police!

Raoul: Christine! Christine! Calm down! Little Lotte, don't you recognize me?

Christine: (gasps) Raoul! Raoul de Changy!

Raoul: The same!

(Christine slaps Raoul)

Christine: How dare you be in my dressing room! What right have you to eavesdrop on my room, and what's worse, defile it with your presence when I am absent! How dare you!

Raoul: Mademoiselle, peace, I meant no offence!

Christine: Offence was taken nevertheless, _monsieur_!

Raoul: Mademoiselle…

Christine: So it's to be "mademoiselle this" and "mademoiselle that", hmm?

Has the boy who leaped into the sea to retrieve my scarf been supplanted by the ineffectual… FOP… before me?

Raoul: I need not take this abuse from you! Clearly, Mademoiselle Dáae, you are fatigued. I will call again at a more opportune time.

Christine: OUT!

(Raoul exits)

Christine: The insolence! By God, he took the rose! That… bastard!

(Enter Meg)

Meg: Christine, my dear, I heard shouting!

Christine: Never you worry your golden head about this. Just some insolent noble-born _vagabond _attempting to accost me.

Meg: Certainly not! That young, dashing…

Christine: Effeminate, rude…

Meg: _Corporeal_…

Christine: Mundane…

(Christine sits)

Meg: _Gentleman _that just passed out of your room…

(Meg begins to brush Christine's hair)

Christine: _Gentleman_? HA! Meg, that was Raoul, or (mockingly) _Le Vicomte de Changy._ We were children together. He was the overbearing, annoying older brother I never had. We had a bond. But I could _never _think that of him. The best I could have ever said of him as a child was that he was foolhardy, and though I am no harlot, not well versed in the grit and truth of the world in which we live, I thought him naïve.

Meg: Little Jammes thinks he's handsome

Christine: Yes? Well Little Jammes ought to look past the face of a man to ascertain his true quality. Make no mistake, while Raoul de Changy may be handsome… pretty faced… chivalrous… endearing (shakes head) he's also egotistical, misogynistic and overall insufferable.

Meg: Aren't you being just a little bit harsh?

Christine: No. Like a faithful dog, and about twice as annoying, he will always come back. No matter how many times I tell him I do not appreciate his advances, he always thinks it's because I'm in trouble.

Meg: At least his brother isn't after you!

Christine: Meg! While Philippe may be womanizing and somewhat unsavoury, at least he holds no delusions and accepts it when a woman says no. But where Philippe thinks it unlikely that women would reject him if he has money and status, of which, may I add, being a Changy, he has a surplus of, Raoul believes it impossible for a woman to resist him for the aforementioned reasons.

Meg: You speak like a scholar, Christine.

Christine: Do I? Do I really?

Meg: Yes, you do.

Christine: It is my master's influence, I am sure.

Meg: Oh, yes, the _Angel of Music _I keep hearing about. Christine, do you not think it prudent to find and marry a flesh and blood man rather than to be obsessed with a figment of your imagination?

Christine: Now who speaks with the _air of a scholar?_

Meg: Your poisonous influence, no doubt!

(Christine laughs)

Meg: All right, all things aside, I do believe it is time for you to go to bed, Christine. Your hair is brushed, and I see your eyelids drooping. Come now, I'll walk you to the dormitories.

Christine: Oh, all right.

(Exeunt)

(Cut to Philippe and Raoul)

Philippe: There you are!

Raoul: Yes?

(Philippe cuffs Raoul)

Philippe: WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!?

Raoul: Philippe…

Philippe: Don't "Philippe" me! You _weren't _thinking is the problem. How could you be so stupid?!

Raoul: You told me to let the flame rule!

Philippe: Doesn't matter! When a girl rejects you, you do not barge into her dressing room! At least you didn't…

(Philippe facepalms)

Philippe: You didn't. Please, Raoul, PLEASE, tell me you didn't!

Raoul: Oh, this? (holds up rose)

Philippe: And… you did. You stole her rose.

Raoul: I…

Philippe: You _stole _her rose. Sometimes I think you _are _just some common vagabond. Come on, before you damage your and our family's reputation any more.

(Exeunt)

_Scene 7_

(Enter Moncharmin and Richard)

Richard: Seems like opening night was a grand success!

Moncharmin: What did I tell you!

Richard: Though, the Phantom was there.

Moncharmin: He _did _recommend Christine to us. Perhaps his aim was to keep an eye on his investment.

Richard: But what of Carlotta?

Moncharmin: What of her?

Richard: This could be our chance! We can hold Mlle. Dáae as her understudy to keep her in line!

Moncharmin: You're right, you know.

(Enter Carlotta)

Carlotta: What is the meaning of this?!

Moncharmin: (aside) Speak of the devil (back) Señora Carlotta! How nice to have you back! Did you enjoy the performance of your new understudy?

Carlotta: UNDERSTUDY?!

Moncharmin: Mademoiselle Dáae, of course!

Carlotta: Well, my dear managers, I have come to announce that I am returning to the Opera House, come what may!

Richard: We will be much obliged to have you back, Señora.

Moncharmin: And should you be inconvenienced, Mlle. Dáae would be more than happy to take over for the night.

Carlotta: Oh, my dear managers, I am sure that Mlle. Dáae's services will not be required.

Richard: But should you feel ill…

Carlotta: Rest assured, I will not.

(Phantom's shadow is seen)

(Exeunt)

(Enter crowd of aristocrats and Raoul into Box Five)

Philippe: I hear the object of your disgrace has been sidelined in favor of Sra. Carlotta tonight.

Raoul: She sang like an angel just a few days ago. Why won't she let me take her away from all this… revelry?

Philippe: Maybe she loves it here and you just can't get it through your thick head.

Raoul: Philippe, why are we in Box Five?

Philippe: The managers wanted to sell seats here to try and prohibit the appearance of the "phantom" again. They assured us it was all a hoax.

Aristocrat 1: Hush! The show is on!

(Carlotta sings the Jewel song)

Raoul: She's not nearly as good as Christine!

(Carlotta croaks)

Philippe: That's definitely not as good as your Christine. Or Carlotta, for that matter!

Aristocrat 2: Look! Up on the balcony of the dome!

(Enter Phantom, hidden)

Phantom: Did I not instruct that Box Five was to remain empty?

(Carlotta croaks over and over, crying)

(Chandelier begins to sway)

Phantom: (laughs) Look! Look and behold! She is singing to bring down the chandelier!

(Chandelier falls)

(Scream)

End of Act I


	2. Act II

_Act II_

_Scene 1_

(Enter Christine)

Phantom: (faintly)_ Christine…_

Christine: Master?

Phantom: Come toward your mirror, Christine.

(Christine begins to walk toward mirror)

Phantom: Come to me, Christine. Come to your Angel of Music, and let me teach you the rest of Heaven's music!

(Christine goes through the mirror)

Phantom: _Come to me…_

(Exeunt)

(Enter Raoul)

Raoul: She was just here! Where did she go?! CHRISTINE!

(Enter Philippe)

Philippe: Come away from there!

(Exeunt)

(Enter Christine and Phantom)

Christine: Master, are you… are you the Phantom of the Opera?

Phantom: (laughs) No, my dear. A phantom is incorporeal, unseen and unfelt. I am neither.

Christine: Then who are you?

Phantom: … My name is Erik.

Christine: Where are we going?

Erik: We are descending, my dear Christine, descending to the place where your lessons shall be from now on.

(Christine glances back and gasps)

Erik: (laughs) Be not afraid, my dear. There is nothing to harm you here. (aside) So long as you do not touch the mask.

Christine: It is very dark…

Erik: HA! And I suspect you expect for the sun to alight down here. The further we go, Christine, the less the sun's burning rays seek to destroy us. Here, Christine, we are wrapped in the cool cloak of night.

Christine: How far down must we go?

Erik: Far down. Beneath the cellars, beneath the sewers. Far down, to my… house. For my house is well sheltered in the arms of night; it has never seen nor felt the scalding rays of shallow light in which those above choose to bask.

(Silent walking for a while)

Christine: Master…

Erik: What? What's the matter, Christine?

Christine: Master, the travel… I did not come prepared.

Erik: Do not fear, Christine, we are not far now. Do you need for me to carry you?

Christine: No, master, I will manage.

Erik: Nonsense, Christine. If you are fatigued, do not hesitate to call upon me.

Christine: Master, are you the one they _call _the Phantom of the Opera?

(Silence)

Christine: Master?

Erik: Do not dwell on such things, my dear. They do no good for your voice. And were I a phantom, it should be the shallow hatred of man that made me thus. Come now, Christine, do you see the fog? Beneath that, there is a lake. All to ourselves, this lake we have, my dear Christine. It is ours.

(Erik lays Christine in the boat, climbs in and pushes off)

(Change of scenery)

Erik: There, Christine, that light there is where I live.

Christine: Is it Heaven?

Erik: Oh, child. If only you knew.

(Erik lands the boat; Christine goes inside, followed by Erik)

Erik: Do you like it, Christine?

Christine: What?

Erik: I put on a few extra candles, brightened it up a bit… What do you think?

Christine: It's… it's….

Erik: If only you knew what lies in store for you, Christine. Up there, in your dressing room, I could only teach you the words, the notes. Here, here I can teach you the _meaning_.

(Christine faints, Erik runs and catches her)

Erik: There, now. You've had a trying day. Sleep, my angel.

(Erik carries Christine to a bed)

Erik: Sleep.

(Exit Erik)

_Scene 2_

(Christine awakes)

Christine: What? Was it… a dream? What… (picks up note) "Dearest Christine, when you awake, come into the dining room to the right side of the organ; your room is on the left. We will eat, and then begin the lessons. I promised to teach you Heaven's music, and I keep my promises. Erik."

(Christine walks through Lair to get to the dining room, sits at chair)

(Enter Erik)

Erik: Ah! Christine! You're awake! Please, eat. You'll need it.

(Christine begins to eat)

Erik: Once you finish, we will go to the main room to begin today's lesson.

Christine: Master…

Erik: Call me Erik.

Christine: Erik, are you going to eat?

Erik: I dined earlier.

Christine: (pause) Where were you when I woke up?

Erik: I was… meeting a friend, Christine.

(Christine falls silent)

Erik: I hope you know just how devoted to your success I am, Christine.

Christine: Devoted, Erik?

Erik: Oh, yes. You see, Christine, I made the chandelier fall.

(Christine drops a glass)

Erik: Are you all right?

Christine: I'm fine, I'm… I'm fine.

Erik: Very good. Are you almost done?

Christine: Yes, Erik.

Erik: Then let's go.

(Erik steps out of chair and helps Christine out of her chair)

Erik: Now, Christine, I have taught you to sing with emotion. Well, there are several operas much more complex technically than Gounod's _Faust. _For those operas, I will teach you to vary your vibrato and do the most astonishingly complicated things with your vocal technique to amaze the audience. But in order to do these things, first you must enhance the richness and quality of that beautiful voice of yours.

(Erik sits down at the organ)

Erik: To do this, you must sing not from your lungs, but from your diaphragm. Let's begin with _Othello_.

Christine: What about this? (picks up manuscript)

Erik: No… no.

Christine: Why not?

Erik: Christine, you may ask me to play Mozart. That will simply make you cry. But Christine, my _Don Juan Triumphant_… burns.

Christine: Then, let's begin.

Erik: Very good.

(Erik begins to play, Christine begins to sing)

Erik: Yes, Christine, YES! BREATHE DEEPER!

(Christine approaches)

Erik: BUILD YOUR VOICE! LET THE CELLARS RESOUND WITH THE BEAUTIFUL SOUND OF IT!

(Christine rips off the mask)

(Erik screams, hitting a chord, turning)

(Christine falls)

Erik: Is this what you wanted to see?

(Christine backs away on the ground, Erik follows her)

Erik: No, no! Don't cover your eyes! Oh, you think this is another mask, do you, that beneath it is my real face? DIG YOUR FINGERS IN! (Erik digs Christine's fingers) IT'S REAL! FEAST YOUR EYES AND GLUT YOUR SOUL ON MY ACCURSED UGLINESS! Don't you see, Christine? (Erik's voice breaks, begins to cry) I _AM _DON JUAN TRIUMPHANT! Oh, Christine. Why did you have to look? Now you cannot ever be free! (Crawls into corner)

Christine: You… you…

Erik: Yes, me, ME, wretched ME!

(Erik stands and goes to the organ with the manuscript)

Erik: YOU WANTED TO HEAR IT! HERE IT IS!

(Erik begins playing)

(Christine stands hypnotized)

(Erik finishes and slumps over the organ, weeping)

Erik: Oh, Christine, why couldn't you love me?

_Scene 3_

(Enter Richard and Moncharmin)

Moncharmin: What are we to do?

Richard: Don't ask me, you're the reasonable one!

Moncharmin: Well, _I'm _not accustomed to women running from me!

Richard: Oh, come off it. She was ABDUCTED!

Moncharmin: On the night that the chandelier fell, no less. There seems to be a correlation there!

(Enter Raoul)

Raoul: Where is Christine?

(Enter Philippe)

Philippe: Raoul, come off it.

Raoul: WHERE. IS. SHE.

Philippe: Ah, Sorelli. How nice to see you.

(Enter Sorelli)

Sorelli: Everybody calm down, Christine Daaé appeared in her dressing room this morning.

Richard: So you mean to tell me that after two weeks, she just _SHOWS UP?!_

Moncharmin: Peace, Richard. Count our blessings. In light of Carlotta's indefinite absence, at least Mlle. Daaé has returned to us, that's _SOMETHING_, at least.

Richard: Oh, I do suppose you're right, at least the show can go on now.

Moncharmin: Precisely.

Raoul: Where is she now? I must go to her!

Sorelli: You must not.

Raoul: Brother, restrain your whore!

(Philippe slaps Raoul, Raoul falls)

Philippe: You bastard. You unreasonable villain.

Sorelli: Monsieur le petit Vicomte, Mlle. Daaé is asleep and must remain so.

Philippe: You see! You see! She is fine! Now come, and we will have a very strict talk about how you speak in a woman's presence.

(Philippe drags Raoul out)

Moncharmin: How is her health?

Sorelli: Fine, monsieur.

Richard: How long until she can perform?

Sorelli: Monsieur, I cannot…

(Enter Christine)

Christine: Immediately after I take a short 3-day leave.

Richard: But you've…

Moncharmin: You may depart immediately.

Christine: Many thanks.

(Exit Christine)

Richard: Why let her go?

Moncharmin: Because I was assured that if we did not, chances are we would regret it.

Richard: By whom were you assured?

Moncharmin: By this man here.

(The Persian steps out of the shadows)

(Black stage)

_Scene 4_

(Enter Christine and Mme. Valérius)

Christine: Oh, father…

(Christine kneels)

Christine: How I miss you.

Valérius: He was a good man, your father. He loved you very much. The sight of you two together brought me and my late husband such joy.

Christine: Thank you, Mama Valérius, for bringing me out to where my father is buried.

(Christine places roses on the gravestone)

Valérius: It is no trouble, Christine. None at all.

(Wind blows, violin melody, faint)

(Christine listens, enraptured)

Valérius: Come now, Christine, let me fix you some tea. You can say what you like about these French, but at least they know to import good tea.

Christine: Yes, Mama Valérius. _Merci, _that would be most lovely.

(Exeunt)

(Enter Raoul from hiding)

Raoul: I heard you! I know you have Christine! Let her go!

(Erik laughs, skull rolls to Raoul's feet)

(Raoul picks up the skull gingerly)

Raoul: Reveal yourself!

Erik: You want me, boy, you can have me.

(Erik's shadow flits to the chapel, Raoul runs to follow)

Raoul: WHERE ARE YOU!

(Raoul backs into Erik)

Erik: Here.

(Raoul turns and backs away)

Raoul: Draw, sir!

(Raoul draws sword from cane and puts it on Erik)

Erik: (laughs) You have no idea just how out of your league you are, do you, little soldier boy?

(Erik draws quickly and deflects Raoul's sword)

(Erik and Raoul exchange blows)

Raoul: I will kill you, and take back Christine!

Erik: Don't tempt me, boy. Better men than you have tried and failed to kill me. You have no chance. Christine does and always has been mine! You never possessed her and thus cannot take her back!

Raoul: We'll see about that, trickster!

(They fence)

Erik: This has gone on quite long enough!

(Erik disarms Raoul, attacks and ties him with Punjab lasso and stabs Raoul in the gut with a bowie knife)

Erik: (leans in) Give my regards to Christine.

(Takes out bowie knife, sheathes sword, and exits)

(Scene change to morning)

(Enter Friar)

Friar: By God above! (crosses himself)

(Raoul groans)

Friar: Help, my brothers! We must get this young man down! He is in need of healing!

(Exeunt)

_Scene 5_

(Erik playing the organ in the Lair)

(Enter Christine)

Christine: Are you responsible?

Erik: Ah, Christine. Do sit down, my dear, you look rather flushed.

Christine: You didn't.

Erik: Please Christine, sit.

Christine: You followed me to Boscherville!

(Erik finishes and turns)

Erik: SIT DOWN!

(Christine sits)

Erik: You went to Boscherville, taking a train to Rouen and a carriage the rest of the way. I wasn't following you, your lover was.

Christine: Raoul? Raoul is not my lover!

Erik: He seems to think otherwise.

Christine: He always does.

Erik: SILENCE!

(Christine flinches)

Erik: You went to see your surrogate mother in that town. De Changy followed you there. He confronted me, and so I crucified and stabbed him. You really must choose a smarter man with which to subvert me, dearest Christine. Nevertheless, I hope that it will convince his infinitely more sensible brother, Philippe, to hold him. That boy is truly insane.

Christine: You nearly killed him!

Erik: I MADE AN EXAMPLE OF HIM! I do not _nearly _kill someone, Christine. If I want someone dead, they die. I am no amateur. That boy was remarkably strong, and it showed in his fencing technique that he was used to being the stronger man in all encounters. So I knew that his wound would coagulate just enough to save his life.

Christine: Excuse me?

Erik: (sigh) I don't suppose Professor Valérius taught anatomy, did he?

Christine: No, he was an architect.

Erik: Thought as much, _mon cheri._

Christine: I… apologize. I thought you hunted him down.

Erik: How are Mme. Valérius's tea making skills?

Christine: You _were _at the graveyard!

Erik: Who do you think played the violin?

Christine: I…

Erik: Speaking of the outdoors, why don't we go and take a ride? I can have my carriage here within the hour.

Christine: That would be lovely.

(Exeunt)

(Change scenery)

(Enter Raoul and Philippe)

Philippe: Raoul, your behavior has got to stop. Mlle. Daaé does not appreciate you debasing our reputation before her like a little, loyal dog.

(Carriage passes)

Raoul: Christine! Christine!

Philippe: I've had it! You are forbidden to see her ever again.

Raoul: Christine…

(Exeunt)

_Scene 6_

(Enter Masquerade crowd)

(Enter Christine and Raoul into crowd, masked, from opposite sides of stage)

Raoul: Christine!

Christine: Raoul! Come with me!

Raoul: Why?

Christine: Don't question me, just come!

(Christine grabs Raoul's had and blends in with the crowd)

(Enter Erik)

Raoul: It's him! By God…

Christine: No, Raoul! You have no chance!

Erik: Ladies and gentlemen, proletariats and bourgeoisie, aristocrats and common men! Beneath the dancing of your fevered feet, in a time most of you, I'm sure, would like to forget, many a man was tortured, forgotten and died screaming. Did you ever make amends? No! Things went back to the way they were before! These men, these tortured, wronged men, who were imprisoned by the prejudiced and ignorant of mankind, all of them died in vain. It is the fault of you! All of you! You made their deaths possible, and thus are perhaps more guilty than the poor souls you ordered to do it! Ordered them because you didn't want the blood on your hands! Well, I tell you, each of you are damned as a thousand of those men you used to do your dirty work, for each of you is individually responsible for the deaths of the men they killed in addition to the perpetrators' damnation! Your guilt is magnified through this! And thus does the Red Death rebuke your merriment!

(Erik ascends the stairs)

Christine: Up to the roof, now!

(They run and hide)

(Erik passes, Raoul reaches out to grab him)

Christine: (whisper) No, Raoul, don't.

(Christine looks around)

Christine: Let's go!

(They run up to the roof)

Christine: Oh, Raoul!

(Christine buries her face in Raoul's chest)

Raoul: What is the matter?

Christine: Help me! Take me away from here!

Raoul: Calm down, Christine. Tell me what happened.

Christine: You were right, Raoul. By God, you were right. The voice from my mirror, he was no angel sent by my father.

Raoul: How did you know I said that?

Christine: I didn't. _He _did.

Raoul: He?

Christine: The voice behind my mirror. It was no angel, no ghost, though both roles are credited to one and the same man.

Raoul: So you mean to say that your Angel of Music and the Phantom of the Opera are the same?

Christine: He is a man. His name is Erik. He… taught me to sing, promised to teach me a little of heaven's music. He was my tutor for three years, through my time in the chorus to my debut. The night the chandelier fell, he took me down to his lair underground. And his face… oh, Raoul, if I live until I am two hundred years old, I will never forget that wretched face.

Raoul: What did he look like?

Christine: The mask he wore tonight was not so different from his natural visage. Only it was all the more terrible because it _was _his visage. His skin is like… like yellow parchment stretched too thin over his skull so that his skull protruded from it. His eyes were sunken, they burned like hellfire… but the eyes, those awful eyes… they were as pitiable, wretched and sad as you can possibly imagine, and then some.

Raoul: Then he is a monster?

Christine: Oh, no, he is a genius. He is brilliant, inspired, and a thousand others besides. No, he is no monster. But he loves me, Raoul, and I could not bear to look into those eyes for eternity. I would go mad.

Raoul: He loves you?

Christine: Oh, Raoul, he would murder for me. Please, take me away.

Raoul: I'll find us a coach. By tomorrow this will be far behind us.

Christine: No! I must sing for him one last time. Tomorrow night, let us fly as far as the hooves of horses and the tracks of trains can take us.

Raoul: But Christine, why?

Christine: Oh, Raoul, if you could but see into those eyes of his, you would know.

Raoul: Fine then, Christine. Tomorrow night we will fly.

Christine: Thank you, Raoul… the ring… WHAT HAPPENED TO THE RING?

Raoul: Christine…

Christine: Raoul, you don't understand. That ring he gave me to wear. He made me promise that if he let me go at the end of those two weeks, that I would wear that ring.

Raoul: Don't worry about the ring, Christine; soon he will be miles away.

(They go down the stairs)

(Enter the Persian)

Persian: No, you cannot go this way. Take that route, instead.

Raoul: Thank you, sir.

(The Persian runs up to roof)

Persian: ERIK!

Erik: What did I do, Nadir?

Nadir: Erik!

Erik: What did I do to make her betray me? I thought… I thought she could love me.

Nadir: What are you doing, Erik?

Erik: WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE?! I'M ENDING MY MISERABLE, WRETCHED LIFE!

(Nadir pulls Erik from the edge)

Nadir: Erik, no. Even if your face prohibits people from thinking it, you have a wonderful mind! Don't destroy it for the sake of a woman!

Erik: Christine, oh, Christine, why? … No…. NO!

Nadir: Erik…

Erik: I WILL have her, Daroga. Even if it takes me killing her lover.

Nadir: Erik, no…

Erik: She WILL BE MINE! Mark my words, Daroga. I _will _have her! Christine Daaé _will _be my wife! And I will kill anyone who stands in my way!

(Exit Erik)

Nadir: Oh, Allah, what have I done?

(Exeunt)

_Scene 7_

(Enter Raoul into Christine's dressing room)

Christine: Oh, Raoul, what if he knows?

Raoul: So what if he knows? There is nothing even he can do about it now.

Christine: Don't underestimate him, Raoul. He is unlike other men.

Raoul: Calm, Christine, calm. Tomorrow this will all be over. I… love you, Christine. Remember that.

Christine: Raoul, oh, my childhood friend, I love you as well.

(Poke in La Sorelli)

Christine: Mlle. Sorelli!

Sorelli: Soon to be Madame Sorelli, le Comtessa de Changy. Raoul, I don't like going behind your brother's back like this…

Raoul: Don't worry, Sorelli, he'll blame me, not you.

(Enter Meg)

Christine: Meg!

Meg: I told you, Christine, I told you.

Christine: Yes, dear Meg, indeed you did.

Meg: Oh, it's all so romantic, Sorelli marrying Philippe, you going to marry Raoul…

Sorelli: That's quite enough, Meg. And Raoul, I'll have you know that if not for your comment to your brother, he would never have figured out that he wanted to propose to me. I'm sorry that had to drive a wedge between you.

Raoul: No worries, Sorelli. My brother can be quite thick at times, but he's a good man. He'll come around.

Meg: Oh, Christine, you're on now.

Christine: Raoul…

Raoul: Don't worry now, Christine, the coach is right outside, and I'll be in my box. We're ready to go, don't you worry.

Christine: Thank you, Raoul.

Raoul: Don't think of it. Now go out there, my bride-to-be, and make the angels weep.

(Exeunt)

(Enter Raoul and Sorelli into box with Philippe)

Sorelli: Philippe.

Philippe: Arianna.

(They kiss)

Raoul: Sorelli, your first name is Arianna?

Sorelli: Indeed it is.

Raoul: Well, Arianna, let's enjoy the show.

(Christine sings _Oui, c'est toi que j'aime_)

(Faust reveals himself to be Erik)

Christine: (gasp) ERIK!

Erik: You are MINE!

(Stage goes black)

(Lights come back on, Christine and Erik are gone)

(Collective gasp)

Raoul: CHRISTINE!

End of Act II


	3. Act III

_Act III_

_Scene 1_

(Enter Moncharmin and Richard)

Richard: This is a disaster! First Carlotta, now Christine disappears without a trace!

Moncharmin: _Monsieur le Prefect _has assured me that the police are doing all they can to find Mlle. Daaé.

Richard: Wait… didn't we leave an envelope of money on this table?

Moncharmin: Indeed we did. Twenty thousand francs. In gold.

Richard: Did you take the envelope?

Moncharmin: No. And obviously you didn't… you didn't, did you?

Richard: I am offended!

Moncharmin: You did!

Richard: Nay, monsieur, 'twas you!

Moncharmin: No, sir, I have no need of it! And besides, when we locked the door, I gave YOU the only key!

Richard: I was with you the whole time!

Moncharmin: Wait a minute, who was it exactly who demanded twenty thousand francs that we refused to give?

Richard: You don't think…

Moncharmin: Yes, I do. The Ghost.

(Enter Raoul)

Raoul: Where is Mlle. Daaé?

(Both laugh)

Moncharmin: How are we to know? That's what we're trying to find out!

Richard: Among other things related to the Phantom of the Opera…

Raoul: Both of you are useless!

Moncharmin: I protest! We're having the Prefect help us find her! Oh, Monsieur le Prefect! What have you found?!

(Exit Moncharmin and Richard)

(Enter Nadir)

Nadir: I hear you look for Erik and Christine.

Raoul: What of it? Why did you help us before?

Nadir: I did no such thing. I did it for the man who made my son's final days joy. I did it for the man who I promised I would look after. It was for Erik's sake that I did this, the same Erik your Christine betrayed.

Raoul: But he kidnapped her!

Nadir: He LOVED her!

Raoul: Who are you?

Nadir: My name is Nadir, former Daroga of Mazanderan. And Allah help me, I am about to betray the man whom my son loved for his own good.

Raoul: Then you are my enemy!

Nadir: No! I aim to help you release Christine. She isn't worthy of Erik.

(They begin to walk)

Raoul: _Christine _isn't worthy? Your "Erik" is an abominably mad creature.

Nadir: Do not speak of things of which you have no knowledge!

(They enter Christine's room)

Nadir: Damn! The mirror is sealed shut!

Raoul: What?

Nadir: The mirror that Erik uses to go back and forth between his subterranean lair and Christine's dressing room. Erik locked it.

Raoul: There must be another way!

Nadir: Indeed there is. Erik lives in the fifth cellar, below the sewers and the Communists' Prison. There is a trap door in the third cellar, which leads down. But I warn you, once we pass through the trap door, you must keep your hand at the level of your eye.

Raoul: Why?

Nadir: Because, as I'm sure you've discovered, Erik's weapon of choice is the Punjab lasso. And that abominable weapon surely coils quick.

(They walk down to the third cellar)

Nadir: The discovery of Erik at this trapdoor, as well as rubber lips, cost Joseph Buquet his life.

(Nadir opens the trapdoor, they leap through)

Raoul: Why are you so loyal to Erik?

Nadir: I don't suppose Christine told you of Erik's life?

Raoul: No.

Nadir: The life of Erik is a dirge of pain and woe. Erik was a genius, a law unto himself since birth. His is a beautiful mind, complemented by the hypnotic and beatific voice of an angel. He was born where Christine's father was buried, in Boscherville in the '30's. His mother was a spoiled brat who hated her son's deformity, but nourished his mind in any way she could. It took Erik almost dying at age eleven for her to realize she loved her son. But at that point, it was too late. Erik ran away to leave his hateful mother to be free to live her own life. He was enslaved by a band of Gypsies as a sideshow freak until he was thirteen, at which point he murdered his despicable master and escaped. He became apprenticed to a master mason, whom he regarded as a surrogate father, as his own father, another master of masonry, died months before he was born. He fell in love with his master's daughter who wanted to see his face. When his master betrayed Erik by ordering him to remove his mask, she was so frightened that she ran across the rooftops and fell to her death. I was ordered by the Shah of Persia to procure him for the Khanum's amusement. He entertained her by becoming her personal assassin and court magician. My son… he was gravely ill with a disease that killed slowly, but with agony. For all his stoic and sarcastic façade, Erik had still a heart of gold, and he made my son's final days the best days of his life. After Erik… eased my son's suffering, I introduced him to opium. He later switched to morphine to save his voice, but I am sure that the Persian years were his lowest low, culminating with Erik building an elaborate palace for the Shah and then being sentenced to death for knowing too much. I saved my friend's life and promised him I would look after him. He returned to France and, with a substantial fortune, helped Charles Garnier to build this opera house. Erik's idea, it was, to drain the excess of the Siene from the marshlands this opera house used to be, and put them into a subterranean lake. He built the labyrinth of tunnels that lay beneath the third cellar, as well as every secret passage in the house. When the Commune began, he retreated to his lair across the lake. He was subjected to the screams of the tortured men who were held in the prison, and then lived his days beneath, in his "house". Don't you see? Erik is a good man, who only wanted to give to the world all he could, and he cared for his fellow man, as much as he might endeavor to hide it. But it was his face that kept that from him. Now you see.

Raoul: So… he fell in love?

Nadir: With Christine, yes. So you see, Erik deserves one who can look past his face and love his mind and his heart. Christine is not that woman.

Raoul: So why do you betray him? Why did you help us?

Nadir: I am Erik's only friend. I know him. Christine's pathetic attempt at hiding you two only would have piqued his interest. He was on the statue of Apollo as Christine betrayed him to you.

Raoul: And you knew this?

Nadir: He was about to commit suicide, you know? Because Christine, the one woman he thought could love him, betrayed him. I saved him from the edge, convinced him not to kill himself. But it convinced him to abduct Christine, and so this is partly my fault.

Raoul: Why did you save him?

Nadir: You are a soldier, are you not? And keep your hand at the level of your eye!

Raoul: Yes, I am.

Nadir: Then that makes sense.

Raoul: Why?

Nadir: Because the Persian soldiers always demonize the men they are fighting. It helps them keep their conscience clean and not succumb to depression. The shah is a petulant and mercurial man, and so most wars the Persian military become involved in are usually senseless slaughters.

Raoul: And?

Nadir: If I have learned one thing about ten years of European life, it's that the leaders of Europe are even more petulant, but hide it behind a veneer of dignity. Therefore, it would make sense that you would try to demonize Erik even though he's not your rival.

Raoul: He's not?

Nadir: No. Erik is in almost every way your superior. He's a genius in every art, every craft. It's only in the realm of cosmetic appearances that you win the day, and Allah knows you don't need to be pretty to kill someone.

Raoul: So you're saying that the man who killed a number of men and tried to kill me is a good man?

Nadir: You're not listening! If Erik had wanted to kill you, you would already be dead.

Raoul: And the other killings?

Nadir: Erik believed it necessary to keep himself from being persecuted. Any man who was in Erik's position would have done the same, perhaps more.

Raoul: What is that?

Nadir: Stay back!

(Enter Ratcatcher)

Ratcatcher: This is a message from the shadows: turn back, Daroga, for the Ghost walks in a fury tonight. Your guest will die first.

(Exit Ratcatcher)

Raoul: What was that ball of fire?

Nadir: That… was the Ratcatcher. He lives here in the fifth cellar and keeps Erik's lair free of vermin.

(They descend down stairs)

(Footsteps)

Raoul: (whisper) I hear footsteps.

Nadir: (whisper) Get down! Hide!

(They hide under the stairs)

(Erik passes, flaring his cloak)

Nadir: (whisper) All clear!

Raoul: (whisper) Let's go.

(They run, drop down through a trap door)

_Scene 2_

(Enter Erik and Christine)

Erik: You… you lying bitch! (throws her on the bed) You ungrateful little harlot! You faithless slut!

Christine: How dare you!

Erik: How dare I? HOW DARE YOU! I TRUSTED YOU! I GAVE YOU YOUR VOICE, AND _THIS_ IS HOW YOU REPAY ME?! YOU BETRAYED ME!

Christine: You… you were listening?

Erik: (laughs) Funny how people never look up. The roof of the opera during the masquerade? Remember?

Christine: You… you knew?

Erik: Never take up chess, Christine. You underestimate me much too much for your own good. You couldn't hide from me! I know every trick in the book when it comes to that.

Christine: Where?

Erik: On Apollo's Lyre. I heard every word you said. You would go mad if you had to see my eyes, eh? (voice break) Look, damn you, look! (takes Christine's head and turns it toward his) But for your betrayal, my eyes would no longer be so bloody SAD!

(Bell chimes)

Erik: Well, I believe we have a caller, Christine.

(Philippe calls Raoul)

Erik: Could it be Philippe, Le Comte de Changy?

Philippe: (distant) Raoul!

Erik: I believe it is! Oh, my siren isn't doing her job! I really should have a firm chat with her. Don't you move! Oh, what am I saying? You can't get anywhere! (laughs and takes a pipe)

(Exit Erik)

Raoul: Christine!

Christine: Raoul! Where are you?! (moves over to the wall)

Nadir: Mlle. Daaé, we are in the Room of Many Mirrors! Keep Erik in the dark, don't let him know! Get the key!

Christine: Where?

Nadir: On his desk, child!

Christine: Where?

Nadir: In his study!

Christine: He doesn't _have_ a study!

Nadir: He does! It's a floor below!

Christine: How do I get there?

Nadir: Play the finale of his opera!

Christine: He hasn't finished it yet!

Nadir: He did indeed, last night. I was there!

Christine: I can't play the organ!

Nadir: He didn't teach you?

Christine: No, he only taught me to sing!

Nadir: Oh, here we go…

(Enter Erik)

Erik: Christine, come away from there! We have something to celebrate!

Christine: What?

(Erik walks over to the organ and plays)

Christine: What is that?

Erik: The Requiem of Philippe, Le Comte de Changy! (laughs)

Raoul: BASTARD!

Erik: (stops) Did you hear something?

Christine: No.

Erik: Oh, okay. Well then, you won't mind if I turn on the Room of Many Mirrors.

Nadir: Allah, Erik, NO!

Erik: Daroga?

Nadir: Erik, it's me! Nadir!

Erik: Nadir… And Raoul, Le Vicomte de Changy! Oh, is this not a day! My only friend and the woman I love betraying me on the same day, to the same man, no less! Well, Daroga, you can die as I dispatched traitors for the Khanum back in Persia!

Nadir: Oh, Erik, no…

(Erik plays on the organ, the lights turn on and the mirrors rotate in the torture chamber)

Raoul: What is this?

Nadir: This is…

Erik: Daroga, I believe that will be quite unnecessary! Monsieur le Vicomte, what you are in is the Room of Many Mirrors. I devised it as a spectacle for the Khanum's entertainment. The light is a bright one, and the rotating mirrors create an illusion all their own. But as the mirrors rotate, they convert the lamp's light to heat. That heat will continue to grow. Notice to your immediate left the metal tree. On that tree's branch is a noose. You have two options: either be cooked alive or recognize the noose for the friend that it is.

(They act out dehydrating, Raoul tries hanging and fails, Nadir discovers a hatch)

Nadir: Get down here, Raoul!

(They go down)

Raoul: Barrels! Barrels! We're saved!

Nadir: Wait! With Erik, nothing is as it seems.

Erik: Very astute, Daroga.

Nadir: Case in point… (cracks open barrel) These are filled with gunpowder!

Erik: Ah, Daroga, you've discovered my cache of powder kegs! A relic from the Commune, when they planned to blow apart the Opera House. And so we come to the crux of our tale, the big finish of our love triangle! (opens box) Approach, Christine!

(Christine approaches)

Erik: Christine, inside are two fixed figurines: the scorpion and the grasshopper. Turn the scorpion, and you choose to marry me, and I will wash away all the gunpowder and save your lover from the heat. If you turn the grasshopper, the entire Opera, and us, and half of Paris will be blown into bits. But beware the grasshopper. For it hops… it hops JOLLY HIGH!

(Turns away, flaring cloak)

Erik: Make your choice, once and for all.

(Christine reaches for grasshopper, then reconsiders and turns the scorpion)

Erik: YES!

(Chamber fills with water)

Christine: Erik, what are you doing? You said…

Erik: I said I would save him from the heat. I never said I would let him live.

Christine: Erik, release them and I will be your living wife.

Erik: Do you mean that?

Christine: I swear it.

Erik: Fine. Let it be on your head.

(Erik plays a chord, the hatch opens, Erik helps them out)

_Scene 3_

(Enter Erik)

Christine: Poor, unhappy Erik. What a life you must have led.

(Christine kisses Erik)

Erik: … Take the boy and go. I know you love him. Be married and happy when you will, as you will. But make one final promise to me, Christine.

Christine: Anything!

(Erik slips ring on her finger)

Erik: Take this for you and him. And come back and bury me. When you bury me, then put it with my body.

Christine: Yes, Erik, I will.

(Christine kisses him again)

(Exit Christine)

(Stage to black)

(Enter Nadir)

Nadir: Who could it be at this hour? (gasps) Erik!

Erik: Daroga. May I come in?

Nadir: Yes. Yes, of course.

Erik: Thank you. The chill is ungodly.

Nadir: It's a warm spring day, Erik.

Erik: Is it? The chill, it forbids me from noticing. My final hour is fast approaching.

Nadir: Tea?

Erik: No, thank you. I've taken a liking to English teas, and knowing you, your tea will all have come from Mazanderan's tea farms themselves.

Nadir: Sit, sit!

Erik: I think I will. One question, though. How did you…

Nadir: The eyes. The eyes are all I needed. Granted, I warrant there's not many a man in all of France that can match you for height. Is that mask…

Erik: No, I am not so barbarous as to stitch human skin on my face. The mask is imitation skin, grown with… special methods.

Nadir: How…

Erik: I'm a man of science as well, Nadir. And I warrant they won't rediscover that secret for another near-century, if at all. And I will be buried with it on. Christine said it was the face I should have had, had I been born not deformed.

Nadir: I was… wrong about her. She _was_ worthy of Heaven's music. And you.

Erik: Indeed she was. When she kissed me… real, living, not having tried to kill herself, I knew that she loved me. And that was enough. I let her go, to do as she pleased. But God help that boy, for I fear I created a monster in her.

Nadir: Did you…

Erik: Oh, God no. Can you imagine how she would have reacted if she had learned that my bed was a COFFIN?

Nadir: You Europeans have some strange customs.

Erik: (laughs) That we do. That we do.

Nadir: So how _did _you get the lights to shut off?

Erik: I drugged the gasmen. It was really quite simple. Little known fact: gasmen value their spirits.

Nadir: What of the twenty thousand francs?

Erik: It was all too easy to install a trap door in the closet of the manager's office. I got in and out, and they suspected each other! (laughs) (coughs)

Nadir: Erik?

Erik: Oh, Daroga, I'm dying. I'm dying indeed.

Nadir: I could get you a doctor…

Erik: Nay, Daroga, I've tried. There is no way to cure my death. I am dying, Nadir. Dying of a broken heart, and no disease. She promised to come and bury me, to see me before the end of my miserable life.

Nadir: Erik…

Erik: And I'm sorry I couldn't do anything more for Sasha, Nadir. Your son deserved better. I left plans in place to take care of that.

Nadir: Wha…

Erik: I poisoned the Shah and his abominable mother.

Nadir: HOW?!  
Erik: I gave them the disease Sasha had. They will die in as much agony as they put the innocents they ruled through. Cosmic balance and divine justice.

Nadir… How long ago…

Erik: They should be dead within the year. On condition that none of the noble families notice how weak they're becoming and assassinate them.

Nadir: You should… rest.

Erik: Oh, Nadir, the eternal sleep draws close. I really came to ask of you one last favor, old friend.

Nadir: What?

Erik: Wait three weeks. Then post to every newspaper in Paris that I have died. I'm sorry, old friend, to ask this of you, but I fear that this will be the last time we will meet. Goodbye, Nadir. I'll give your regards to Sasha in the Afterlife.

(Erik begins to exit)

Nadir: Goodbye, my friend, and may flocks of angels sing thee to thy rest…

Erik: To the Opera!

(Scenery changes to the Lair)

Erik: Oh… I feel it… Christine… my heart is giving… Then tonight shall _Don Juan Triumphant _resound in the deep!

(Goes up to the organ and plays the finale of fanfare, the organ descends)

(Stage goes black)

(Enter Christine and Nadir)

(Nadir plays finale, they descend)

Christine: Oh, Erik!

Erik: Christine… (cough) you came back… (cough)(cough)

Christine: Of course I came back…. I love you.

Erik: What of (cough) Raoul?

Christine: I owe you everything.

Erik: Christine… (cough) I'm sorry…

Christine: It was done in love, not pity. Raoul will think it's his. He will have as good a life as any in the aristocracy.

Erik: Take my... (cough) _Don Juan…_ (cough) It shall belong to the world.

(Erik gets up, plays _Don Juan Triumphant_)

(Slumps over organ)

Nadir: Rest, my friend. Rest in peace.

(Nadir puts Erik in his coffin)

Nadir: But he said…

Christine: That was true then. No longer.

Nadir: Well then, Erik, you have finally known the warmth of a loving woman's touch.

Erik: So I have… so I have… Christine!

Christine: Yes?

Erik: I will…(cough) see you on the other side, (cough) _mon cheri_.

Christine: I'll be waiting.

Erik: I will (cough) always (cough) love you.

Christine: And I you.

Erik: No emperor… (cough) has ever received… (cough) so great a gift.

(Erik dies)

Nadir: Rest easy, my friend. You have earned it.

(Christine cries into Nadir's shoulder)

Nadir: And so another bright soul departs the cruel world, redeemed at the end by the love of a woman.

(Christine pulls off the ring and puts it in Erik's coffin)

Christine: Goodbye, my love, my master, my Angel of Music.

Nadir: Let us depart, Christine. Your husband will be waiting.

Christine: I have known what it is to be a widow, now, Nadir.

Nadir: And I have no one, now. It is only left for me to wait and let Allah come for me.

Christine: Poor Arianna…

Nadir: And so the Ghost's love story ends, at last.

(Nadir removes the mask from Erik's face and closes the coffin)

(Christine takes _Don Juan Triumphant_ and rose)

(They leave)

End of Act III

_**The End**_


End file.
